WASHINGTON—Fledgling peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians survived their first precarious hurdle, as both sides departed Washington pledging to sit down face to face every two weeks in a year-long drive to end the seven-decade conflict.
But expectations remained low for the U.S.-brokered negotiations, with Palestinian officials pointing to Israeli plans to resume expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank as an early deal-breaker.
“It went fairly well. This was a good beginning,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information Nabil Shaath told the Toronto Star as the first round of meetings broke up Thursday.
The two sides agreed to resume talks Sept. 14 at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. Shaath said that an additional “preparatory meeting” would take place next Monday in the West Bank town of Jericho. As was the case Thursday, senior U.S. intermediaries are expected to attend.
But the reality-check after two days of soaring rhetoric and high hopes are the tensions surrounding Sept. 26, when Israel’s 10-month freeze on settlement building is set to expire. Palestinians say any continued Israeli construction on land intended for a future Palestinian state will spark an abrupt end to talks.
“There is still some time and we will continue to negotiate. The Palestinian view is that the Israelis can solve this issue any way they want to — but what we need is absolute assurance the moratorium on settlement expansion will continue,” said Shaath.
Despite a flurry of ceremonial buildup led by President Barack Obama, the actual talks lasted only a few hours — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in one room with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, support teams from each side in another. The tone and body language matched the hopeful tone of establishing a framework for the year ahead, one participant said.
With pessimism so high going in — Obama’s peace bid marks the eighth major attempt in almost 20 years — some analysts described a slight uptick of hope in the wake of the series of opening statements from both sides.
“Everyone went in with such low expectations that a day and a half later maybe the temptation is to look up just a little,” said Hadar Susskind, vice president of policy and strategy with J Street, a Washington-based lobby group that advocates a two-state solution.
“Seeing Netanyahu speak of sharing the land with the Palestinian people and hearing Abbas describe a vision of peace and security for both sides, those were important steps. It gave some hope that maybe these actually are the people, maybe this is the time.”
Though this marks only the beginning, some analysts were struck also by the early involvement of Obama, who launched a risk-fraught process despite the political inconvenience of investing in foreign policy at a time when most Americans want him singularly focused on the battered U.S. economy.
“Obama is doing something that neither (George W.) Bush or (Bill) Clinton did — he upped the ante by injecting himself personally less than two years into his administration,” said Susskind. “That shows a commitment that is not politically expedient. It shows that the Obama White House really believes this is in the interest not just of Israelis and Palestinians, but also the United States and the world itself.”
Hillary Clinton set a firm but realistic tone for Thursday’s meetings, telling reporters the U.S. would be “an active and sustained partner” for the duration.
But she also echoed remarks made by Obama prior to a White House dinner Wednesday night, saying the role of honest broker cannot force peace upon unwilling parties.
“We cannot and we will not impose a solution,” she told Netanyahu and Abbas. “Only you can make the decisions necessary to reach an agreement and secure a peaceful future for the Israeli and Palestinian people.”
The developments in Washington came in the shadow of back-to-back armed assaults on Israeli settlers in the West Bank, including a Tuesday ambush that killed four residents of the West Bank settlement of Beit Hagai. Both attacks were claimed by Hamas, the militant group that opposes peace talks and remains dedicated to Israel’s destruction.
Palestinian security forces responded with a major sweep of suspected militants with ties to Hamas, arresting more than 300 Palestinians. The investigation continued Thursday, with Palestinian Authority security sources quoted as saying two of the detainees are likely to face charges of involvement in Tuesday’s killings.
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